Josephus, Jesus, and Christian Interpolations

Josephus was a Jewish historian who wrote a history book called “Antiquities of the Jews” around the year 94CE. Born just a few years after Jesus’ crucifixion, Josephus was in a position to record information about Jesus’ life that would provide independent confirmation of the gospel story and satisfy skeptics through the ages. Did he write about Jesus? The answer is, maybe. Antiquities of the Jews contains one of the most controversial passages of the ancient world. Josephus was a Jew, not a Christian, and a Church Historian named Eusebius later wrote of Josephus that he did not believe Jesus was the Messiah. However, in Antiquities Book 18, Chapter 3, we find this passage about Jesus:

“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct to this day.”

This passage is controversial for many reasons. It does not seem to fit well with what comes before and after it in the text; in chapter 3 there are two lengthy tragic stories about Jewish rebellions which were violently put down, then this wondrous and very brief Jesus account, and then another lengthy tragedy about Jews banished from Rome. It would be strange for Josephus, a very partisan Jew, to write something so obviously Christian. Josephus barely mentions Jesus elsewhere in his huge book, and then only when mentioning Jesus’ brother James’ death. Many people doubt that we have this passage as Josephus originally wrote it. Some say this is an example of a Christian interpolation.

What is an interpolation? Ancient books were copied by hand. An interpolation would be if the copyist decided to make a little change, by taking out or adding something, perhaps in order to make the passage fit better with Christian beliefs. Then we in modern times would have only the changed version, and not the original to compare it to. But sometimes you can still tell without the original because the insertion was clumsy and does not seem to fit.

Two good examples of interpolation are in the book called Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (written 150-100BCE). This Jewish work, which was left out of the Bible, tells of how Jacob, on his deathbed, talks to each of his sons in turn and gives them prophesies about the future. In the copies of this work we have today, there is evidence of interpolation. Somebody decided to rewrite a few of those prophesies to fit better with Christian beliefs. We know because we have the original version too, as copied by somebody else before the changes were made.

The first example is from Testament of Joseph 19:1-11. Jacob says, “Listen, my children, concerning the dream that I saw […]” The first paragraph below is the original, followed by the changed one. I put some obvious interpolations in italics.

1. (Original) And I saw in the midst of the horns a certain virgin wearing a multicolored stole; from her came forth a lamb. Rushing from the left were all sorts of wild animals and reptiles, and the lamb conquered them. Because of him the bull rejoiced and the cow and the stags were also glad with them. These things must take place in their appropriate time. And you, my children, honor Levi and Judah, because from them shall arise the salvation of Israel.

2. (Interpolation) And I saw that a virgin was born from Judah, wearing a linen stole; and from her was born a spotless lamb. At his left was something like a lion, and all the wild animals rushed against him, but the lamb conquered them, and destroyed them, trampling them underfoot. And the angels and mankind and all the earth rejoiced over him. These things will take place in the last days. You therefore, my children, keep the Lord’s commandments; honor Levi and Judah, because from their seed will arise the Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world, and will save all the nations, as well as Israel.

See how elements were changed, removed, or added? The second example is from Testament of Benjamin 3:7-8. “He [Jacob] embraced him and kept kissing him for two hours, saying,

1. (Original) In you will be fulfilled the heavenly prophecy which says that the spotless one will be defiled by lawless men and the sinless one will die for the sake of impious men.

2. (Interpolation) Through you will be fulfilled the heavenly prophecy concerning the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world, because the unspotted one will be betrayed by lawless men, and the sinless one will die for impious men by the blood of the covenant for the salvation of the gentiles and of Israel and the destruction of Beliar and his servants.

Now you know how interpolation works. The Jesus passage from Josephus might be an interpolation too. In 1971, a new discovery was published which supports this idea. It was a different Arabic version of the Jesus passage from historian Agapius' Book of the Title, a history of the world from its beginning until 942 A.D. Agapius was a tenth-century Christian Arab bishop who actually quoted Josephus’ Jesus passage, and it was different from the one you read above. Here it is:

“Similarly Josephus, the Hebrew. For he says in the treatises that he has written on the governance of the Jews: 'At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. His conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. And many people from the Jews and other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and die. But those who had become his disciples did not abandon their loyalty to him. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive; accordingly he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the Prophets have recounted wonders.”

If you compare the two, you can see that the second one might be the original passage, or closer to it. It is more neutral, and less obviously Christian in its beliefs. It reads more like the writing of a skeptical Jewish historian who is being fair and leaving the possibilities of other beliefs as open questions. You can almost imagine a copyist looking at it, being offended by the doubtful tone of it, and making changes, such as insisting Jesus was the Messiah for sure, that he was more than a man, and that he appeared to the disciples after his death for sure.

The Jesus passage from Josephus is a mystery that may never be solved. Did Josephus write it as is, testifying to Jesus as the Messiah? Was the whole passage stuck in by somebody else? Did a copyist alter what was originally there? There are many opinions. This is all just of academic interest in terms of Christian faith. In short, it does not matter to faith whether Josephus or any other independent historian wrote about Jesus at all. We have the gospels and that is enough for faith. It still would have been nice to point to non-biblical writings which “prove” the gospels are correct. This particular writing by Josephus, although famous, sadly proves nothing, and about its origin, the world may never know.